Automatic feeding attachment for printing-presses.



L. ADELHOFER.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 17. I919.

Patented Apr. 15,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

A. T 'A- I "E! I L L. ADELHOFER.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED, JAN. III I9I9.

Patented Apr. 15,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

II- a y m m ,w. M M r W fi I ifl n I w m OFFIEE.

LEOPOLD ADELHOFER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patente d Ap 15 1919 Application filed January 17, 1919. Serial No. 271,678.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEOPOLD AniiLHornn,

a subject of the King of Hungary, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Feeding Attachments for Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to printing presses of the bedand-platen type, and more particularly to an automatic feeding attachment therefor, which adapts the machine for printing on continuous strips of indefinite length. 7 i

The main object of the invention is to provide a feeding attachment of the character mentioned, which is simple in construction, eflicient in operation and which can be mounted upon a printing press of the bedand-platen type without necessitating material changes in the construction of the latter.

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in the combination, arrangement, and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from .the'spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention; 1

One of the many possible embodiments of I attachment; and Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4, on a largerscale.

In the drawings, only as much has been shown of the printing press as is necessary to understand the invention, and while herein a printing press of specific form is disother presses just as well, as will hereinafter appear.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the frame of the press, in which the operative parts are supported, including a platen 11 and a swinging bed 12, which carries the form. This bed is supported by arms 13 which are oscillatably mounted upon a shaft 14. A continuously rotating gear 15, receiving motion from the driving shaft of the press (not shown), is mounted upon the press frame. The platen is on machines of this type mounted so as to have a rocking motion. When applying the feeding attachment, forming the subject matter of the presentapplication for Letters Patent, upon the press, first the platen is locked permanently in the position which it occupies when receiving the impression. The means for locking the platen is not shown, as it does not form part of the invention.

The feeding attachment comprises a substantially horizontally disposed table 16, that is bolted to the bed 12 and carries bearings 17, in which is rotatably mounted a lower feeding roller 18, which cooperates with an upper feeding roller 19. These rollers extend transversely of the press, theupper roller being under the tension of springs 20, for the well-known purpose. On the table 16 are furthermore mounted, in rear of the feeding rollers, bearings 21 in which is rotatably mounted a shaft 22, extending parallel to the said feeding rollers and carrying wind-up reels23. A plurality of these wind-up reels may be mounted upon the said shaft, if a plurality of narrow webs or paper strips are to be simultaneously printed upon, for instance when printing labels, or a single wind-up reel, if one Wider web is to be printed upon. The webs or continuous paper strips 2 are led from supply reels (not shown) up between the platen and bed of thepress over a guide roller 25, in front of the feeding rollers, and thence between the said feeding rollers to the wind-up reels. The feeding rollers and the wind-up reels are driven from the gear 15 in the following manner :To the bed 11 is fixedly attached a downwardly extending frame 26, to which is pivoted at 27 a lever 28. The distance between this lever and the fra1ne26 may be adjust'ecLQfor instance by a set-screw 29. The lever 28 is provided with a longitudinal slot 30, through which extends a spindle 31, carrying a gear 32, that meshes with a gear 33, the latter being rotatably mounted upon the pivot 27 above mentioned and is in mesh with a pinion 34:. This pinion is fixedly attached to the lower feeding roller 18. The gear 32 is adapted to mesh with the gear 15, when the bed 12 i in its outermost position, that is to say in non-printing position.

The shaft 22, upon which the wind-up reels 23 are mounted, is driven from the lower feeding roller 18. To this roller is attached for this purpose a sprocket wheel 35, over which runs a chain 36, in mesh with a sprocket wheel 37 the latter being loosely mounted upon the shaft On this shaft is loosely mounted a bushing 38, that constitutes one of the journals thereof. Between the sprocket 3'7 and this bushing is inserted a washer 39, a spring 40 on the shaft 22 serving to force the gear 37 against I the said washer. Against the other side of the bushing abuts a washer 4:1, in contact with a gear 42, that is loosely mounted upon the shaft 22. This gear meshes with a pinion t3, that is attached to the spindle 4A of a spring motor. This motor includes a spring housing 45, containing a spring 16, the inner end of which is secured to the spindle 11, while its other end is fastened to the said spring housing. \Vith the spring housing is made integral, or there may be attached thereto, a gear 47, that meshes with a pinion 48. The last-named pinion is fixed to the shaft 22, and provided with a plurality of pins 49, that are adapted to engage a spring stop 50. This spring stop is secured to the frame 10 of the press, and is in en-. gagement with a pin as when the bed 12 is in its outermost position, shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The operation of the feeding attachment is as folloWs:lVhen the elements of the print ing press and feeding attachment are in the positions shown in Fig.,, 1 of the drawings, that is to say when the bed 12 is in its outermost position, the gear 32 meshes with the continuously rotating gear 15 of the printing press. Rotation is thus imparted, by the intermediary of the gear33 and pinion 3%, to the feeding rollers, thereby advancing the webs 2a a distance that is determined by the time during' which the train of gears actuating the said feeding rollers is in motion. At the same time, the sprocket wheel 37 is rotated, its rotation being transmitted to the gear 4:2, and by the latter to the pinion 13. Inasmuch as in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings one of the pins 49 of the pinion 18 is engaged by the stop 50,

said continuously rotating gear when said the shaft 22, upon which the wind-up reels 23 are mounted, does not rotate. l/Vhile the elements are in the positions shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings,'the wind-up reels are thus not rotated, the rotation of the sprocket wheel 37 resulting only in winding up the spring 4.6 in the housing 45. When, therefore, after the bed 12 moves toward the platen 11, the pin -19, previously in engagement with the stop 50, is disengaged from the said stop. The gear 47, under the action of the spring 16, causes a movement of the shaft 22, winding up the webs on the said reels as far as the feeding rollers will per mit. In other words, the reels take up the slack of the webs between the feeding rollers and the wind-up reels.

After the impression has been made by the form on the webs, the bed moves outward, bringing the gear 32 in mesh with the gear 15, with the result that the cycle of opera: tion described is repeated.

The extent of the feed may be varied by replacing the gear 32 with a larger one or a smaller one, according to the requirements. To permit a gear of larger or smaller: size to be interposed between the gears 33; and 15, the distance between the lever28 the frame 26 must be varied. by the set-screw 29, the slot 30 in the lever 28. being provided to accommodate gears of varying sizes- What I claim is 1. A paper feeding attachment for printing presses of the type including'a stationary platen, areciprocating bed holdingthe form and a continuously rotating gear, the combination with said bed, of feeding rollers -mounted thereon, and a train of gears for actuating said feeding rollers, one member of said tram being brought into mesh with bed approaches the end. of the, stroke away from said platen and unmeshed When'sa-id bed moves in the opposite direction.

2. The combination cla med; n claim 110' having means for varying the speed ofthe feeding rollers. Y 1. 3. A paper feeding attachment 'forqprinting presses of the type including a stationary platen, a reciprocating-bed holding the form 115 and a continuously rotating gear, the co-m bination with said bed, of feeding; rollers mounted thereon, a train of gears for actuating said feeding rollers, one member of said train being brought into mesh with 120 said continuously rotating gear when, said bed approaches the end of he stroke. away from said platen andumneshed when said bed moves in the opposite direction, a wind,-

up reel upon said bed, and a gearing between 125 one of said feeding rollers and said wind-up reel.

4. The combination claimed in claim 3, said gearing including a spring motor wound up during the motion of the feeding rollers 130 and actuating said wind-up reels when said bed moves toward printing position.

5. A paper feeding attachment for printing presses of the type including a station ary platen, a reciprocating bed holding the form and a continuously rotating gear, the combination with said bed, of feeding rollers mounted thereon, and a train of gears for actuating said feeding rollers, one member of said train being brought into mesh with 10 Signed at New Y0rk, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 15th 15 day of Jan. A. D. 1919.

LEOPOLD ADELHOFER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

